The first “major” occurance turned out to not be major at all (thank goodness). customs was super easy to get through, and miraculously checked luggage arrived quickly. But, my bag never came! there was a family i think from spain, and me, both left waiting once it was clear all the baggage had arrived. so i was getting concerned, but keeping my cool cause there was nothing i could do except go thru whatever process it takes to report missing luggage etc. of course tho, the office for my airline was in a wee back corner 2 floors up from where i was, and it took me a little while to find it, but i eventually did. there was no one around on the second floor, all the offices to other airlines looked empty too. but i eventually found the office for Copa, and the door is locked! (it was only 7am, so i was then thinking i’d have to wait for people to arrive to work) Luckily, someone did eventually come to the door after i knocked, and before i could say anything, the guy pointed to my bag at his desk! i had a hard time understanding what exactly happened, but for whatever reason it was unclear to the airline where the bag’s ultimate destination was, or something. anyway, i was super relieved to have my bag. by this time it was 8isham, but chile stopped moving clocks for daylight savings, so the sun didnt even rise until 8:30ish. my host arranged for me to leave my luggage at his friend’s hotel while i could explore santiago that morning/afternoon before catching a bus to go south to cauquenes where he would pick me up. the taxi ride to the hotel took 20ish min, and the driver was very friendly. everyone at the hotel was also super friendly. it was a very very nice hotel too, so i felt privilaged to be treated so nicely even tho i wasnt actually a guest. i just walked around a bunch, returned to the hotel a couple times to ask a question or use the bathroom. when the time came, they arranged a taxi for me to the bus station. the ride was easy, and i passed through some pretty country side, and many vineyards. i got to the bus station about 6:30pm knowing i’d have to wait a little while because max couldnt get there til after 7pm. well, he got caught up in errands and stuff and didnt actually arrive to the station until 10pm! again, i was repressing feelings of concern (like maybe i wasnt getting picked up after all?). when max did arrive, he was incredibly apologetic. but i had plenty of reading to do while i waited, and i had a couple coffees (which i desperately needed because i didnt get a lick of sleep on the plane rides, and so i had basically been awake for over 24 hrs). but being in a new land, an obvious foreigner, and interacting with my new environment were all contributing to a plentiful flow of adrenaline to keep me going. long story short, max made dinner when we got to his place (barely south of curanipe, about 45 min drive from cauquenes not due to distance moreso than small curvy roads and driving slow), and we drank wine and talked until almost 6am! i couldnt believe i lasted that long, perhaps the longest ive ever been awake.
